


Gardening for Greenhorns

by JustGalsBeingPals



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Library, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Artist Steve Rogers, BAMF Steve Rogers, First Meetings, How Do I Tag, M/M, POV Multiple, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Tony Stark Does What He Wants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-30 17:35:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19408081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustGalsBeingPals/pseuds/JustGalsBeingPals
Summary: Steve wasbored.He started dozing off after five minutes, the silence and the sound of the heavy rain outside lulling him into a slumber, but he started awake when the door of the library was thrust open with a loudBANG!that could have risen the dead.





	Gardening for Greenhorns

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nano_Jay_Cali](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nano_Jay_Cali/gifts).



> Thank you to the wonderful [stranded_in_hell](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stranded_in_hell/pseuds/stranded_in_hell) for being a great beta and an actual angel! 
> 
> Enjoy!!

Steve was bored. The library was almost empty, except for two guys who were reading at the same table. He was so bored that he started creating stories in his mind about those guys' lives. Maybe they were married with kids. Maybe one of them was a secret agent and was looking for information for his covert operation. Maybe they were divorced and failing to move on with their lives, but when their eyes would meet over their books they would fall in love and start a life together. 

Steve was  _ bored _ . 

He started playing Candy Crush on his phone for lack of something better to do. He tried topping his best score, without any success, so he picked up a book that was on his desk and tried to lose himself in  _ Gardening for Greenhorns! _ . 

He started dozing off after five minutes, the silence and the sound of the heavy rain outside lulling him into a slumber, but he started awake when the door of the library was thrust open with a loud  _ BANG! _ that could have risen the dead. 

"Why why  _ why _ is everyone so  _ incompetent _ ! Why on Earth do I need to enter a god-forsaken  _ library _ to not get wet instead of just getting in my car?" a short man in a suit with red-tinted sunglasses exclaimed loudly, waving his arms around. He was dripping water all over the floor. 

"Sir, could you please-" Steve attempted to calm him down, but was interrupted by the man who started shouting again. 

"Because i have fucking  _ incompetent _ employees, that's why. I was out, in the pouring rain, for  _ half an hour _ before finally finding an open shop, because my driver can't arrive on fucking time!" 

"Sir, if you could just-" Steve tried and failed again to make the new arrival lower his voice. 

"I swear, when my fucking driver arrives, I  _ will _ fire him faster than my new jet at top speed!" 

"If you're done, kind sir, this is a  _ library _ , which means that you either shut your fucking mouth right now or I'm kicking you out into the oh-so-annoying pouring rain in the next three seconds." 

The short man finally seemed to realize that he wasn't alone, that the other two customers threw him angry glances, and that the library employee looked really,  _ really _ mad. 

"Oh. Uhm-" he seemed to have lost all his eloquence. Good, now Steve could read  _ Gardening for Greenhorns!  _ in peace. It was starting to get interesting, after all. 

"That's what I thought. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have much more important things to do than telling an apparently grown man to shut up." Not really, but the guy didn't need to know that. 

" _ Apparent _ \- Did you just make a joke about my height? Do you know who I am?" 

He hadn't, but the man evidently had a chip on his shoulder about his height, or lack thereof. Now that Steve paid more attention to the way he looked, instead of just to his loud voice, he did look kind of familiar. He just couldn't remember where they had met... Maybe at college? But, no, he seemed way too rich to have gone to community college, and certainly not in the section where Steve had studied. An art degree wasn't very remunerative, after all, so he did need his library job to pay rent. 

"I didn't, but your previous behaviour didn't look much like that of an adult. And no, I have no idea who you are. Am I supposed to?" 

The man took off his sunglasses and stared him down. He didn't look very intimidating, short and wet with that annoyed glare. Actually, Steve thought, he looked kind of cute. 

"As a matter of fact, you are. Do you not watch television? Or use the internet at all?"

Steve squinted at him. Nope. Still didn't recognize him. 

"I am  _ Tony Stark _ . I could buy your family, dog included, and you should definitely know that." 

Oh. Well, that made sense. 

"Noted. Now, would you like to buy a book or just read at one of the tables? Actually, don't go near the books, you're all wet. You sure weren't joking about that pouring rain, huh?" Steve had a feeling he was really pissing off the guy, he just couldn't help it. He was annoyed, yes, but that was the most interesting thing that had happened to him all week, and the astonished look on  _ Tony Stark's _ face was priceless. And adorable. 

Stark stuttered for a while, then seemed to recompose himself and put his sunglasses back on. 

"You know what? I like you. You're not intimidated by authority, which is something I admire. Sure, the authority in question is me, and I don't like being disrespected, but whatever, you're pretty. You're hired." 

Steve's eyebrow had gone all the way up to his hairline the more words got out of Stark's mouth. 

"Excuse me,  _ what _ ? I'm- what?" 

"I said you're hired. What is it you can do? I'm sure we can find a place for you at SI." 

"I have an art degree…?" 

"Oh, great, the rooms in my Malibu residence do need some paintings, I don't like the ones Pepper put in there." 

Steve was so confused. He couldn't keep up with what Tony Stark was saying, it was like he was speaking another language. Except the words clicked in after a few moments. 

"You want my paintings for your Malibu residence?" 

"That's what I've been saying, you sure are slow on the uptake. Has anyone ever told you that you kinda look like a younger Robert Redford?" 

"What does that have to do with any of this?" 

"Whatever. So, do you accept the job?" 

"I... Really don't know what to say." Steve couldn’t actually see it because of the sunglasses, but from the small movement of his head, he could tell that Stark had rolled his eyes. 

"How about I add a coffee date to the offer?" 

Now Steve was really fucking confused. A coffee date? With whom? He surely didn't mean... 

"Yes, Karen Smith, I mean a coffee date with me." Oh, he must have said that out loud. Well, whatever. Then he registered the nickname. 

"Did you just call me like that dumb blonde in Mean Girls?" 

"Oh, now you  _ must _ accept my offer, because I really think I might be in love with you. A little." 

What even was that whole encounter, Steve had no idea, but an extremely cute guy had just asked him out on a date and offered him a job, and Steve had no qualms about accepting any of that. It might even have been all a dream. He had nothing to lose and everything to gain. 

"I accept. Now, for the coffee?" 

"Oh, this is going to be lovely. I'm not even going to fire the driver for being late!" 

Then Stark just grabbed his arm and wrote his number on it with a sharpie found on the desk. 

"Call me on this number, I will 100% answer. Well, 90%. Ok, 70%, but at least you won't have to pass through my assistant." His phone pinged. 

"Oh, he's here. Call me, cutie!" and he left, banging the door closed. 

"What. The fuck. Was that," Steve said out loud. He heard snickering from nearby and glared at the two guys, who immediately buried their noses in their books. He could still hear them snicker. 

He sighed and went back to  _ Gardening for Greenhorns! _ . 

*******

"Did you see that?" the long haired guy holding a book with a hideous cover asked. Seriously, Sam thought, that cover was obnoxious, with the terrible shade of pink which was hurting his eyes and the muscular shirtless man holding a young, helpless blonde girl in his arms. 

The guy, though, was like a dream come true right in front of his disbelieving eyes, with his long chestnut hair and his kind but mischievous grey eyes. 

"It was the best thing I've seen in months," Sam replied, silently judging the terrible reading choice of his hot fellow library customer and also praying that he wasn’t straight. 

"Same here. What are you reading?" 

"Just, you know,  _ A History Of Bisexuality.  _ It’s uh, kinda my thing."  _ Please tell me you like dick too.  _

"Nice! How about we discuss it over dinner?" 

"Oh, you  _ smooth fucker. _ " 

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first thing I write in a very long time and I'd say I'm proud of how it turned out. I really hope you guys enjoyed it and I would really appreciate your feedback!
> 
> And this is for the great [NoraHanaJenkins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoraHanaJenkins)  
> She deserves all the Stony in the world!


End file.
